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On Friday I repacked my bag and got ready to travel to Paris in the morning. I spent the day vacuuming my room and making sure I didn’t forget anything. That night Ray took Karen and I out for dinner and drinks. We ended up back at the Living Room. The food was really great. Ray insisted I try a drink and ordered me a “Porn Star” martini. It was a fruity drink with champagne on the top. I was really sour tasting and I didn’t like it very much. He then ordered me a “Strawberry Queen” martini which tasted a lot like a strawberry milkshake but the alcohol wasn’t very good. I would have preferred just the strawberry milkshake.

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 5 am to catch my flight to Paris. I was sad saying good bye to Ray and Karen but hopefully I will see them again soon. Ray took me to the airport in the Hummer, in true American style. I missed not having my usual croissant, or three, with jam for breakfast. I got on my plane on time and thankfully wasn’t charged for my heavy luggage this time around. When I arrived in Paris, I needed to take the RER train line to Gare Du Nord. When I got to the train with my ticket, I was pretty sure I had found the right train but no one was getting on it. There weren’t any other trains and the airport is the last spot on the map so I figured it had to be the right one. I got on the train and found a seat and was approached by a Japanese family who asked if the train was going to Paris. They only spoke a little English and I only speak a little Japanese but we worked it out between the two of us.

Paris turned out much differently than the image I had in my head. I don’t think we were staying in a nice area but the city as a whole was extremely dirty and crowded. I’m sure if I stayed in a very expensive it would have been different but there were rats in the subway system, huge crowds pushing and shoving and lots of graffiti. It wasn’t how I pictured Paris.

When I arrived at Hotel Richmond, I didn’t see any of the students I was supposed to meet. I was worried that they didn’t wait for me and I started to get a little mad but before I could get too anxious, my friend came downstairs and met me. I found out they booked a room for five people and already had 5 people sleeping in it. The hotel told me I could pay 15 euro to add a cot to the bedroom so I did so. They then let me know that they were out of cots! I was more than frustrated now that I didn’t have a bed to sleep in for the night but it was too late to find another place and Hotel Richmond was completely booked for the night. I just slept on the floor. When I went to ask the hotel for at least an extra comforter and blankets, they told me they didn’t have any but that I could walk around the corner to the nearby hotel and borrow sheets from them. I was a little confused and so was the other hotel but sure enough, they let me bother a sort of thick quilt and a bed sheet. Thankfully I brought a little pillow for myself. It wasn’t comfortable but we only slept for a few hours anyways and it would have been very time consuming and expensive to find another place to stay for me that night.

So, while we were in Paris, the plan was to visit Versailles. We got an all day metro ticket and hopped on a train to Versailles. It was relatively close by. Versailles was beautiful but I wish we would have spent a little more time at it. It was very crowded and busy and I missed out on seeing the gardens.

When we returned, everyone was hungry for dinner but I had eaten a big lunch and some snacks at Versailles so I wasn’t really in the mood for dinner. I did take the opportunity to order a delicious nutella and banana crepe from a little shop. It was delicious and completely worth the 3 euro. It was so good, that I think I will get another crepe when I return to Paris!! I even took a picture:

As it got later, our little group of students wanted to return to the Eiffel Tower for the night to see it light up. We stopped at a little grocery store and got purchased a few bottles of wine, some crackers and cheese. We got to the tower around 9:30 pm but it was still light out and really crowded! We found a spot to set up our little picnic and hung out. The tower lit up at 10:00 pm but it was still kind of light out. For the first five minutes, it sparkled but then the flashing lights went out. They came back on again at 11:00 pm and by then, it was dark out and it looked so pretty. I took some video and pictures of the tower. There were also tons of guards around the tower carrying huge machine guns. That was pretty freaky.

We stayed and hung out for a while. There was a group of French guys sitting near us that got very drunk. Half way through the night they started throwing chunks of grass at one of the guys in our group. It was really obnoxious but I didn’t let it bother me too much. Later they started throwing empty cans and stuff too. It was annoying but hey, maybe they say the French are rude for a reason. Those guys definitely were but overall, they aren’t really representative of French people. If they were the only French people I met my whole trip however, I would have a very negative opinion.

On the way home, a few of us had to go to the bathroom. Two of the girls went pee at the park in public (mind you they were a bit drunk and had been doing hooka as well). I really wasn’t into that and asked where a nearby restroom was. One of the other girls said a restroom that you pay for was done the street so I told them I would meet back with them. The pay restroom turned out to be more like a port-a-potty and it was free. An electronic door opens and you step inside and then the door shuts behind you. I got in and to my horror, the bathroom was SOOOOO incredibly disgusting!! I won’t go into details but it was BAD. Before I could turn around and leave though, I was locked in by the stupid electronic door thing. Ugh, so nasty. When I managed to escape, my ENTIRE group was standing outside and made a big scene, cheering for me. I’m pretty sure they got a glimpse of how nasty it was inside. What a terribly embarrassing and disgusting memory to add to my trip. When we returned everyone was very tired and went to bed immediately. It was about 1:30 am. I felt like I need an hour long shower but I feel asleep on my little pad on the floor. We woke up early the next morning and caught a train to Metz where our professor met us. The trip was pretty uneventful for me. Next chapter: Metz.